Is it possible?
In the last few days, while surfing YouTube, a video of Santiago Cosme appeared with a suggestive title:
The truth about the fake Internet gurus and how they make money with their online courses.
In this video he analyzes and exposes the coincidences that the experts, that he calls Gurus, of Internet business have.
How they show off their material wealth, contrasting that they only care about knowledge, showing large amounts of dollars in cash, on a table, shooting them with a bill counting machine.
Exhibiting his bank accounts, huge, by the way, without any major problem.
And how by doing so, they push people to buy their courses, some costing as much as $10,000.00 dollars.
And Santiago Cosme quotes, “If you let them, they push you to spend everything you have, and while you spend money on promises, they become multimillionaires.”
On the other hand, when researching Jürgen Klaric, an American who promotes himself as an expert in neuro-sales and neuromarketing, who has rather developed in Latin America, I found a discussion that caught my interest on Quora, where there were people for and against.
I was very struck by the opinion of Esperanza Castro, who subscribed to one of his free seminars and ended up disappointed, mentioning similar things as those of Santiago Cosme:
- The exhibitor, who was not Jürgen, never gave his name.
- His behavior was rude and overbearing.
- He offended people by asking them questions, to minimize them.
Another of them, Damian Gil, in a much more moderate way, said that he does not consider Jürgen a charlatan, but rather an interesting person and good at what he does, but at the same time, he does not think he is a revolutionary.
And Mauricio Cohen concludes: “Jürgen Klaric is a popularizer, not a researcher. In my opinion, he promotes an optimism built on the results of science, the distortion of others and his comments and ideas.
This gave me pause for thought:
- Are there any foolproof methods for business?
- Are there unique formulas to ensure success?
- Why is it that many times, by faithfully following the steps of an academic process or of some guru, success is still not achieved?
There is no single formula in business, period.
I don’t know about you, but I have already met quite a few successful businessmen, in different areas such as industry, services, health and food; and most of them without much knowledge of business processes or theories.
I am not saying at any time that their businesses do not have areas of opportunity or improvement.
But rather how their vision, character and common sense led them to offer products or services in a profitable way and scale their businesses in an amazing way.
Many of them have become true giants, such as Amancio Ortega, of Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and several others), who is on the list of the richest men in the world, and who at the age of fourteen started as an employee of a textile company in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
My practical interpretation is that the successful entrepreneur or businessman has or develops a solid ability to understand the market and provide it with what it needs.
Know how to produce in your industry at lower costs and obtain and manage profits in a way that allows you to sustain the company and drive it to growth.
Saben de quién rodearse.
That is why I believe it is vital to consider that you must grow or develop personal skills of vision and common sense to connect with people’s needs. The way to cover them at a reasonable cost, and in a shorter time. Manage performance with a focus on development and expansion.
It is true that at different times and places consultants or knowledge will be needed to help increase profit margins, sell more, optimize some process or other type of requirement.
But it is also my opinion that the good judgment of the entrepreneur will lead him to make the best profitable decision, that is, that the investment he makes will produce the highest returns in a reasonable time.
However, where can this criterion be nurtured?
My recommendation is to read the best exponents in each business area. Avoid fashionable shooting stars or false gurus who promise unrealistic results.
Take the time to differentiate who they are.
The quality of knowledge is always palpable, because it is deep and sustained.
Nowadays, there are very reliable books for different business processes.
- Strategic Planning. Scaling Up by Verne Harnish.
- Business Model. Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder.
- Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard de Robert S. Kaplan y David P. Norton.
- Marketing. Marketing 4.0 by Phillip Kotler.
- Branding. The Brand Flip, Marty Neumeier.
- Leadership. The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin
- Marketing Digital. Grow! by Donnie Sheldon
- Design. 100 Things every designer needs to know about people by Susan M. Weinschenk
I am sure I am missing authors and more books. Space is short in this article, but it is a good start, and my invitation is to give time to the best ideas to constructively influence our criteria.
The most important thing is that all those ideas that have been accepted will become the multiple options that we will be able to use to enrich the decisions.
Something like a Swiss Army Knife, it has many gadgets, where everyone knows how and what they use them for.
In my opinion, the number 1 tool in business is the vision and criteria of the person who directs and drives the company.
